December 25, 2024

Beware: listeria and salmonella

Senior News Line

This image shows the packaging of two styles of waffles, among hundreds of brands of frozen waffles, that are part of a voluntary recall because the products could be contaminated with dangerous listeria bacteria, the manufacturer, TreeHouse Foods Inc., said.

The saga of listeria in sliced deli lunch meat continues, month after month. The list of affected items gets longer and longer as there is now an additional company subject to recalls due to listeria.

To stay current on the lunch meat recalls, go to CDC.gov and search for “lunch meat listeria recall.” That will give you several articles with information you need.

As if that’s not enough, to be safe, do we need to change the way we prepare eggs? The Food and Drug Administration has now labeled the ongoing egg recall as a class 1, which means it’s “reasonable” to assume that the eggs can cause serious health consequences or death.

To be safe from salmonella, they say, gone are poached and sunny-side-up eggs. Instead, to kill any possible salmonella, we need to scramble or hard boil our eggs and cook them thoroughly, with both the yolk and the egg firm.

To learn more, go to the FDA website at fda.gov and search for “egg safety salmonella.”

The latest food recalls cover a wide variety of products. There’s dip that’s being recalled because it potentially has mold contamination. And lactose-free milk that has tree nuts.

There’s dog food recalled for salmonella and listeria. And whole cantaloupes with salmonella.

But it’s not all food. There’s the drug remdesivir that has glass particles in it.

And the dietary supplement tainted with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, and chlorpheniramine, an antihistamine. And the baby powder with metal or chemicals in it.

On recalls.gov — a site that covers recalls from the FDA, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and FoodSafety.gov — there are recalls for consumer products, boats, medicine, cosmetics, food and more.

At this writing, there are recalls of bicycle helmets, bathroom mirrors, yard tractors, playpens and so much more.

If there are certain products that concern you, sign up for email notifications on Recalls.gov.

Matilda Charles

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.